Larry Bird leaving Indiana Pacers

Larry Bird has decided to call it quits as president of the Indiana Pacers.

Bird is "100 percent sure" he will not return as president of the team, a person with direct knowledge of the situation told The Star on Monday.

Bird, 55, is expected to meet with owner Herb Simon today to finalize his departure.

Bird's departure will end what had become annual speculation about his future. He and Simon operated under a yearly handshake agreement because Bird was not interested in a long-term commitment.

Bird spoke like he was planning to return for another season during his season-ending news conference last month.

"(I want to talk to Simon about) the direction of the team, what kind of job he thinks we're doing, if there's anything he sees that we should be doing better," Bird said May 30. "Just a number of questions. I've got a lot of them written down to ask him, and hopefully we can get the answers we like and move on."

Bird, who is dealing with some health issues (back and shoulder), will likely take a year off before deciding if he wants to return to any sort of front-office position.

His departure comes just three days after The Star reported that Bird's predecessor, former CEO Donnie Walsh, is expected to return to the franchise in some capacity. There's a possibility Walsh will take Bird's title of president.